I'm not usually a nit-picker but this is bugging the hell out of me.

POSTED BY: ebonezer
UPDATED: Monday, April 18, 2005 23:22
VIEWED: 36713
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NERVOUSPETE

Friday, July 16, 2004 1:16 PM

Love this thread!

Here's a bit in 'Good Omens' by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, a tremendously funny book about how were all going to die when the three horsemen and horsewoman get together...

American airbase guard in England and Newton Pulsifier, trainee witch-hunter with a pressing need for bundles of sticks not uncommon in his profession.

'Finally the guard's probing intellect found a word he recognized.
"What's this here," he said suspiciously, "about us got to give you faggots?"
"Oh, we have to have them," said Newt. "We burn them."
"Say what?"
"We burn them."
The guard's face broadened into a grin. And they'd told him England was soft. "Right on!" he said.
Something pressed into the small of his back.
"Drop your gun," said Anathema, behind him, "or I shall regret what I have to do next."
Well, it's true, she thought as she saw the man stiffen in terror. If he doesn't drop the gun he'll find out this is a stick, and I shall really regret being shot.'

And to reassure you all, that's pretty much the only stupid hick American character Neil Gaiman's ever penned - read the glorious 'Sandman' comic book series and his 'American Gods' novel to find an almost stunning array of wonderful characters. And he lives in Minnesota now, too. (All hail 'The Flash Girls'! but possibly I am now rambling)

And I like mayo on chips. Not as much as a bit of english or french wholegrain mustard on the side. And yes, garlic mayo is heavenly. I used to like ketchup but went off it. Oh! And don't forget the wonders of 'Brown sauce'. And the proper condiment layout for a hamburger is...

BAP
MAYO
LETTACE/SALAD
CHEESE
BURGER
MUSTARD/KETCHUP
BAP

"If you can keep your head whilst others... eurgh! Ack! I've spilt my ink! Ugh! Ink on my trousers! Agh! Ink on my shirt! My only hope! The window! Aieeeeee!" (Falls to death)
- Jonathan Nash

WHISPERING

Friday, July 16, 2004 1:55 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by LaiLing:
I'm from the Midwest, and I never even HEARD of MAYO on fries till I read this thread.

Here in finland its used more then ketchup. I never go to McDonalds coz they dont have mayo. Also hamburgers here have usually 2 diffrent mayo's in it, it would be "dry" and tasteless without it.

As for the american english thingy, here in schools they teach both. The only british english word that i refuse to use is:
Flat / Block of flats, i use Apartment / Apartment building. Other then that, i dont know what "english" i speak.

RHYMEPHILE

Friday, July 16, 2004 2:27 PM

This is such a cool thread...

Here in New Jersey I like mayo on my fries, but others think that's weird. We are also the home to pork roll and something called Scrapple, which is a meat product you eat for breakfast, and contains, as my dad says, "Everything but the oink" of the pig. I love it.

When I went to college in North Carolina, I asked for a hot dog, and got it back with some kind of topping on it. No, not ketchup, mustard, or the usual hot dog toppings, but *coleslaw*. I do *not* want "slaw" on my dog, as the southerners say. I do like mustard and relish however.

They always made fun of me for the way I said "quarter" and "dog" and "nausea." Actually, for northern Jersey the way they speak on the Sopranos is pretty accurate. But we all don't speak like that. It's not New Joisy!

When I mentioned to a clerk that I was from NJ while on vacation on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, he immediately said, "You ever see the Sopranos? Ever been to Asbury Park? Do you like Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi?"

As for the UK/Canuck/US thing, I had a friend once from Alberta who was intrigued every time I said "Close the light off." Apparently it's odd or something. And she used to say intestine to rhyme with the word nine. That I always found odd.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's because they're stupid, that's why! That's why everybody does everything!"

~~ Homer Simpson

THATWEIRDGIRL

Saturday, July 17, 2004 4:58 AM

not a mayo person myslef, i do the ketchup or cocktail suace thing and vinegar if I can get it. Chocolate shakes and fries were huge growing up but i couldn't stomach them. I like room temp or hot pop. No ice! I have two spelling petpeeves: through/thru and grey/gray.

thru just makes sense. It's not hard to remember and there are no silent letters. Those confuse me. But your reading a post by a girl that once got her name wrong on a spelling test.

This thread is very izzard. Cake or death? I have a flag. Scooby doo.

www.thatweirdgirl.com

ZELDA

Saturday, July 17, 2004 6:01 AM

It's true! It's true! Americans tend to think of British generally as aristocratic British - too many adaptations of Jane Austin, perhaps? But many, many of the British dialects are nearly undecipherable to the American ear. I can't remember which movie it was a couple of years ago (something with "Joe" in the title?), but I think the accents were Glaswegian, and they actually subtitled it in the States because American audiences generally couldn't understand a thing.

To take another example from cinema, a lot of people have trouble for the first section of "Trainspotting," until their ear adjusts, and never end up understanding a word Begby says. (Probably just murdered the spelling of that name.) In college I knew a Japanese girl who was trying to read the book, and she had flawless American English, accent and all, really, really bright girl, and she was just beating her head against the thing because apparently the first chapter(s) are written phonetically in dialect, and she was spending something like 20 minutes a page trying to figure out what anything meant!

Linguistically no, I don't think we would qualify as more than a dialect. Culturally, however, they're worlds apart - as is to be expected. It actually always shocks me how surprised Americans get that Canada has its own culture, but I think that's because, as a culture, we tend to ignore Canada, mainly because it doesn't cause us too many problems. And also, I've thought about it a lot, because as a Minnesotan who moved to Chicago, a lot of idiots around here assume that Minnesota & Canada are culturally similar, because theyre both cold in the winter.

ZELDA

Saturday, July 17, 2004 6:06 AM

And speaking of dialects, thatweirdgirl just outed herself as a midwesterner with her reference to "pop."

Man, in college nothing bugged me more than the endless, ongoing debate of "pop" vs. "soda," and always the smart aleck to throw in "well in the south everything's 'coke'." We have differences, people; discuss them because they're interesting (as we are doing here), celebrate or accept them, but stop trying to be right!

OPTIMUS1998

Saturday, July 17, 2004 7:50 AM

LOVING this thread!

Having lived my whole life in Ohio, for me the BEST frech fry/ chip "topping" as it were would be dipping it in a frosted malt(aka frosty), if you're not familiar with these,and live in the us, drive to your nearest wendy's and order one.
if you are from outside the US, it's texture is somewhere between ice cream, and a milkshake, flavored with chocolate malt (like ovaltine)
otherwise, just good ol' ketchup for me.
and ocasionally McDonalds sweet and sour sauce..

THATWEIRDGIRL

Saturday, July 17, 2004 4:53 PM

speaking of pop vs soda...
I think of a soda fountain when I think of a soda. somthing I need a pesonto mix with soda water. i think of pop as a prepackaged drink that pops or fizzes when opened. Silly me. Why am I sitting here on Saturday arguing with myself about pop and soda. Why?

Ding, ding, ding, ding, I am mostly a midwesterner.

www.thatweirdgirl.com

DARKJESTER

Saturday, July 17, 2004 7:32 PM

Edit - sorry, my first double-post!

MAL "You only gotta scare him."
JAYNE "Pain is scary..."

DARKJESTER

Saturday, July 17, 2004 7:32 PM

My father once took our family to visit a friend's family in Kansas in '68 or '69. It was my first experience with a different culture (we were from Illinois). I was only 5 or so, but I STILL remember one of their children asking if we wanted a "sodee pop" and I wasn't sure what she meant!

MAL "You only gotta scare him."
JAYNE "Pain is scary..."

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